Chargers beat Ferris 34-14

Hillsdale College press release

Charger football team celebrates Senior Day with impressive 34-14 win over Ferris State
November 1, 2008 - For senior wide receiver Aaron Waldie, Saturday’s football game between Hillsdale College and Ferris State University was a dream fulfilled.

Waldie broke the all-time record for career touchdown catches (25) in school history as part of a 34-14 victory by the Chargers over the visiting Bulldogs. Hillsdale is now 6-4 on the season and 5-4 in the GLIAC, while Ferris State also has that same record. The Chargers will close out the 2008 season with a road game vs. Tiffin University Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.

Waldie, and 16 other seniors, were honored on Senior Day in a pre-game ceremony at the home finale, and the team played with effort and intensity worthy of Senior Day. The Chargers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, then scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to close out their home schedule with a 5-1 record for the second consecutive season. Waldie and linebacker Tom Korte, the only fourth-year seniors on the team, opened their Charger home careers on Sept. 10, 2005 with an identical 34-14 win over the Bulldogs, making this game the perfect bookend to two careers that will stand out in the 117-year history of Hillsdale College football.

The Charger offense was brilliantly called throughout the game, as the team used big plays to score in the first half, then grinded out long drives that ate time off the clock in the second half. That unpredictability was a key in Hillsdale’s balanced effort throughout the game.

On its third play from scrimmage, Hillsdale used the big play to take an early lead. Quarterback Troy Weatherhead launched a long pass to wide receiver Andre Holmes, who outmaneuvered and outran two Bulldog defenders to score a 72-yard touchdown that electrified the crowd. Holmes caught the pass, made two moves upfield and used his tremendous speed to reach the end zone.

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